The third season of the American web television series Daredevil, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Matt Murdock / Daredevil, a blind lawyer-by-day who fights crime at night. When Wilson Fisk is released from prison, Murdock must decide between hiding from the world or embracing his life as a hero vigilante. The season is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. It is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Erik Oleson serving as showrunner, and series creator Drew Goddard acting as consultant.
Charlie Cox stars as Murdock and Vincent D'Onofrio portrays Fisk, with Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson and Stephen Rider also returning from previous seasons; Wilson Bethel and Jay Ali join them. Former series regular Ayelet Zurer also returns in a guest capacity. The season was ordered in July 2016, with Oleson announced as new showrunner for the season in October 2017. Filming began the following month and ended by June 2018, with the season adapting elements from the "Born Again" comic storyline.
The 13-episode season was released on October 19, 2018.
Cast:
Main
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / DaredevilDeborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
Elden Henson as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Joanne Whalley as Sister Maggie Grace
Jay Ali as Rahul "Ray" Nadeem
Wilson Bethel as Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter / Bullseye
Stephen Rider as Blake Tower
Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
Recurring
Peter McRobbie as Father Paul LantomRoyce Johnson as Brett Mahoney
Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl
Danny Johnson as Benjamin Donovan
Geoffrey Cantor as Mitchell Ellison
Kate Udall as Tammy Hattley
Sunita Deshpande as Seema Nadeem
Noah Huq as Sami Nadeem
Peter Halpin as Theo Nelson
Holly Cinnamon as Julie Barnes
Guests
Annabella Sciorra as Rosalie CarboneMatt Gerald as Melvin Potter
Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna-Fisk
Episode Summaries:
27 1 "Resurrection"
After being seriously injured when a building collapses on him while fighting as the vigilante "Daredevil",[N 1] Matt Murdock washes out of the New York City sewer system. A taxi driver finds Matt and gets him to Father Paul Lantom who entrusts Matt to the care of Sister Maggie at the Saint Agnes Orphanage, where Matt was raised. As he slowly recovers, Matt has a crisis of faith and decides that he would rather put his life in danger and continue fighting as Daredevil than return to his civilian life. He begins training to fight again, and one night he tries to stop a kidnapping; he is beaten and almost caught by the police. Matt's friends, Karen Page and Foggy Nelson, start to lose hope that he may still be alive. In prison, criminal Wilson Fisk decides to make a deal with the FBI to protect his love Vanessa Mariana, who can be charged as an accessory to his crimes. The case is assigned to Agent Ray Nadeem, who is struggling with being unable to receive a promotion due to financial troubles after he paid for his sister-in-law's cancer treatment.28 2 "Please"
Fisk's intel leads to the arrest of the elusive Albanian syndicate's leaders, and Nadeem convinces his superiors to let him continue to work with Fisk despite his financial troubles making him a target for bribery. News of Fisk's cooperation with the FBI spreads fast, and in retaliation he is attacked in prison by a fellow inmate. Nadeem agrees to move Fisk out of prison and into home detention, but their convoy is attacked by the Albanians on the way, and most of the FBI agents are killed. Fisk is saved by Agent "Dex" Poindexter, who has incredibly accurate shooting skills. Matt tracks down the attempted kidnappers and beats them, leaving them to be arrested. Karen is assigned to report on the attempted kidnapping, which involved the well-known Neda Kazemi; after hearing about the death of Karen's brother Kevin, Neda opens up to Karen about the attack and leads Karen to believe that Matt is still alive. Foggy, who is considering leaving his well-paying lawyer job to help his brother Theo run the family business, disagrees that Matt could be alive.29 3 "No Good Deed"
Fisk is taken to a hotel that the FBI have seized, and is kept in the penthouse. News of his release from prison becomes public, prompting protests outside of the hotel and interest from reporters, including Karen who learns that the hotel had belonged to Neda's father Rostom, and that he sold it to a company that is represented by Fisk's lawyer Benjamin Donovan. Foggy goes to district attorney Blake Tower to offer his help in returning Fisk to prison, but Tower is reluctant to go against the wishes of the FBI especially because he is running for re-election. Matt investigates the hotel, and begins to hallucinate Fisk as a "devil on his shoulder". Matt interrogates Donovan and learns of the situation with Vanessa. He vows to stop Fisk and return him to prison, revealing to Foggy that he is alive but only to warn him and Karen to stay away from Fisk. During a routine psychological evaluation to determine his fitness for duty, Dex talks about the emotional support that he receives from his girlfriend Julie. However, she later appears to be someone that he is stalking.30 4 "Blindsided"
Dex is investigated by his superiors after he claimed to kill two Albanians in self-defense during the transit attack while evidence indicates that he may have killed them in cold blood. Fisk saw him do the latter, but lies about this to the FBI and later explains to Dex that he is thankful for the agent's actions and has sympathy for the situation. Foggy, unhappy with Matt's demands, tells Karen that Matt is alive and then is convinced by his girlfriend Marci Stahl to run for district attorney against Tower to focus on Fisk and try defeat him that way. Foggy gains the support of the NYPD, who view Fisk as a "cop killer". Karen continues her investigation, and finds the name of a man involved in the company that bought the hotel: Felix Manning. Matt impersonates Foggy to enter the prison, and learns that Fisk had paid the inmate, Jasper Evans, to attack him so he could convince the FBI to move him. With the Albanians' help, Matt fights off inmates and guards working for Fisk and escapes the prison, but is driven off a dock by an unknown taxi driver.31 5 "The Perfect Game"
When Fisk learns that Matt escaped from the taxi, he tells the FBI that he has a criminal fixer named Matt Murdock. Karen confronts Fisk's actual fixer, Manning, but he threatens her with his knowledge of her family, including her brother's death. Nadeem questions both Karen and Foggy about Matt, and both try to direct him towards Fisk and his crimes. Fisk reviews a file from Manning on Dex, and learns that he used his skillful aim to kill his baseball coach as a child. He was taught to be more empathetic through therapy as he grew up, but appeared to use it as a cover for his psychopathic tendencies such as the time he worked for a suicide prevention hotline and encouraged a caller to murder someone else rather than themselves. It was there that he started working with Julie and fell for her, and now he finds her working at the hotel but accidentally reveals that he has been stalking her. Fisk sees the potential for Dex to become a villain that the public can focus on rather than himself. Karen reveals to Foggy that she killed James Wesley.32 6 "The Devil You Know"
Foggy assures Karen that she is still a good person after killing Wesley in self-defense. Dex confronts Fisk, who confirms that he was behind Julie's hiring at the hotel, and that he had intended to show Dex that life with Julie was not going to work; she wouldn't understand Dex, but Fisk does after killing his father while he was a boy. Matt visits Karen and asks for her help in finding Evans and using his testimony to stop Fisk. Foggy organizes with Nadeem, who has now been promoted due to his work on the Fisk case outweighing his financial troubles, to meet them at the New York Bulletin where Karen works and is planning to interview Evans about Fisk's plans. In exchange for Nadeem considering Evans' testimony, Matt agrees to hand himself over in the hopes of clearing his name. Distraught over Julie, Dex considers committing suicide, but is interrupted by Fisk who proposes an alternative; Dex instead goes to the Bulletin dressed as Daredevil, fights off Matt, and kills Evans before he can talk. Nadeem arrives in time to see Daredevil escaping.33 7 "Aftermath"
Daredevil is attacked by the public and media, and Karen is unable to convince Nadeem that this was not the true Daredevil or that Fisk was behind the attack. When she tries to do the same with her boss Mitchell Ellison, he tells her to reveal who Daredevil is or quit. Karen later asks her father Paxton if she could go spend some time at home with him, but he says no. Foggy believes that he has worked out what Fisk is planning. Matt, angry that he put his friends in harm's way and worried about the skill of the pretend Daredevil, visits Melvin Potter, the man who created the Daredevil suit. Potter confirms that Fisk forced him to create a copy of the suit, and reveals that the pretender was an FBI agent. Potter then tries to frame Matt as the Daredevil who attacked the Bulletin, but Matt manages to escape the arriving FBI agents. After investigating Evans, Nadeem begins to believe that Fisk is manipulating them, but has no proof of this. At home, he is confronted by Matt who explains that the Daredevil attacker was a pretender and an FBI agent.34 8 "Upstairs/Downstairs"
Nadeem realizes that Dex is the attacker. Dex attempts to reconcile with Julie, believing that he needs her to replace his therapist who died when he was younger. She reluctantly agrees to start talking with him, but Fisk later has her killed. Believing that Julie has abandoned him, Dex continues to mentally deteriorate. Matt and Nadeem break into Dex's apartment but cannot find proof that he was the attacker, only some recordings of his therapy sessions which reveal his psycopathic tendencies. Dex arrives home and catches them, injuring Nadeem but not being able to stop the two from escaping. Foggy thinks that he can prove Fisk is still working as a criminal, and that this will get him sent back to prison; he decides to raise these points in a debate with Tower and let Karen write about it, but instead she goes to confront Fisk. She reveals that she knows he killed his father, and that she had killed Wesley, while accidentally confirming that Matt is Daredevil. Matt later overhears Sister Maggie praying about the fact that she is his mother.35 9 "Revelations"
Struggling with the fact that both Maggie and Lantom had been hiding the truth from him, Matt goes to an abandoned boxing club where his father used to fight. Manning threatens Foggy's family unless he publicly apologizes for speaking out against Fisk at the debate. Karen decides to run from Fisk, and Maggie offers to help hide her. Nadeem tells his superiors about Dex and Fisk, but one, Tammy Hattley, kills the other and blackmails Nadeem into working for Fisk. She explains that Fisk had been manipulating Nadeem for the last year, and was behind the need for Nadeem to help pay for his sister-in-law's treatment. Fisk has Nadeem and Dex quietly arrest several gang leaders across New York and bring them to a restaurant where Fisk offers to protect them from FBI charges in exchange for payment. Fisk has Nadeem tell Matt about this meeting, but Matt knows that this will be a trap and instead goes to the hotel to wait for Fisk. While there, he overhears FBI agents loyal to Fisk who have discovered that Karen is hiding at the church.36 10 "Karen"
Before, Karen postponed going to college because she knew that her father and brother would not be able to run their family diner after her mother died from cancer. Despite this, Karen grew bored of her small-town life and started selling drugs to students with her boyfriend Todd. One day, Kevin revealed to Karen that he had re-enrolled her in college, something that Paxton wants to celebrate with a family dinner, but this leads to an argument and Karen runs off with Todd. After getting drunk and high together, they return to the travel trailer where Todd lives to find that Kevin is burning it down. Todd attacks Kevin, and Karen injures Todd with his own gun to stop him. She quickly drives Kevin away, but crashes. Kevin dies in the crash. The local police chief covers up Karen's involvement, and Paxton asks her to leave. Now, Karen is hiding in the church when Dex arrives, dressed as Daredevil, to kill her. Choosing between saving Karen and lying in wait for Fisk, Matt races to the church and helps Karen drive Dex off, but not before he kills Lantom.37 11 "Reunion"
Dex has Nadeem take control of the church crime scene, and the FBI searches for Matt and Karen. They remain hidden with Maggie's help. The Justice Department drops all charges against Fisk, who announces his freedom to the public with a speech that proclaims Daredevil as the public's enemy. With Vanessa on her way back to New York City, Fisk goes to retrieve the painting she gave him when they first met; it is in the possession of Esther Falb, a Holocaust survivor whose family were the original owners of the painting. Fisk decides to let her keep it. Foggy considers reading a statement apologizing to Fisk, until he is called by Matt to help them escape the church: Foggy goes and surrenders Karen to the NYPD, which Nadeem allows, which distract the FBI long enough for Matt to escape as well. Matt, Foggy, and Karen plan their next moves against Fisk, and know they will need help. Later, Nadeem and his family are attacked by FBI agents loyal to Fisk. Matt helps Nadeem fight them off, and reveals his identity to him.38 12 "One Last Shot"
Fisk is reunited with Vanessa, who convinces Fisk to let her into the criminal side of his life. Without asking Fisk, Dex retrieves the painting from Falb and Vanessa notices some of her blood on the frame. Matt agrees to carry out Foggy's plan—working together as lawyers as they once had, they take Nadeem on as a client and organize with Tower to have Nadeem testify against Fisk in front of a grand jury. Foggy also offers to withdraw from the race for district attorney, and they get Nadeem's family to safety. Meanwhile, Karen calls a press conference to announce what Nadeem is doing so the public is aware given that his testimony would be sealed. Matt and Foggy celebrate after the hearing, with Foggy hinting that he would like to continue working with Matt like this. However, Fisk controls the jury and so the hearing has no effect. Nadeem is convinced that Fisk cannot be stopped, and returns to his home. Fisk decides it would be better not to kill Nadeem now that he is a public figure, but Vanessa convinces him otherwise. They send Dex, who kills Nadeem.39 13 "A New Napkin"
With Foggy's plan foiled, Matt returns to his and intends to kill Fisk. He kidnaps and interrogates Manning, learning that Vanessa ordered Nadeem's death, and Fisk ordered Julie's. Foggy meets with Nadeem's wife Seema, who he sent a video message that serves as his dying declaration in which he details all of Fisk's crimes. Matt tells Dex about Julie's death, which Dex investigates and finds her body. Fisk and Vanessa get married at the hotel, but their reception is interrupted when Karen distributes Nadeem's video on social media, followed by the arrival of Dex, who attacks Fisk and Vanessa. Matt soon joins the fight. Fisk defeats Dex, leaving him paralyzed, while Matt overpowers and beats Fisk but chooses to spare his life. Fisk agrees to return to prison and leave Karen and Foggy alone if Matt does not reveal Vanessa's involvement in Nadeem's death. With Fisk arrested, a funeral is held for Lantom. Foggy suggests to Matt and Karen that they all start working together again. Dex later goes through experimental surgery to fix his spine.The Verdict:
I spent the better part of the past weekend watching this in its entirety on Saturday after the initial release on Friday (October 19, 2018). After the cancellations of both Luke Cage and Iron Fist by Netflix, I honestly went into this fearing the worst. As I have mentioned to close friends and on social media on numerous occasions, I never wasn't crazy about Daredevil Season 2 for reasons that I'm going to get into below. That along with my concerns with everything else post-The Defenders on the Marvel Netflix side of things I covered in my opinion piece with my gripes on those matters in-depth anyway.
Narrative
I never formally did a write-up/review on Daredevil Season 2, but there was a reason why and it's because I was downright disgusted with that season. Season 2 of Daredevil merely serves as a thirteen episode pilot for both The Punisher's Netflix series that got green-lit shortly after that season dropped and ultimately provides the backbone for the lackluster foundation for the plot of The Defenders that followed shortly after the events of this season and the first season of Iron Fist. Most people cheered for the borderline obsessive focus on The Punisher/Frank Castle while at the same time, having a mixed reaction to the new take on Elektra (known as Elektra Natchios) in this continuity - FAR away from what Fox did with that character, even though Frank Miller wasn't a fan of it despite not even bothering to watch neither season of the show... In that regard, I can feel where he's coming from to a sense as she's his creation and he's only going to see her interpreted in the means and manner that he created her as.
This season starts off immediately following the events of The Defenders, where we last saw Matt Murdock/Daredevil sacrifice himself to save New York City by choosing to stay with Elektra as the building collapsed on top of them. Somehow he survives this catastrophe, only to be taken in and cared for by the same church that he grew up in, helmed by Sister Maggie. Of course, this was teased at the end of The Defenders, which led many fans like myself to speculate that this season was going to be a direct adaptation of the popular "Born Again" storyline from the Daredevil comics. I'm no Daredevil expert, but after reading up on the story over the last few months, I can tell you that this season is a loose interpretation at best. Hardcore Daredevil fans will be making comparisons from the source material with this Marvel Cinematic Universe adaptation until they are blue in the face, but I'm just merely going to weigh in my thoughts over the course of this thirteen episode season.
Yes, unlike Iron Fist Season 2, Daredevil Season 3 is a return to form for Marvel's Netflix endeavors with a thirteen episode order for this season. Unlike everything that followed after Daredevil Season 1 and Jessica Jones Season 1, all thirteen episodes feel justified without that feeling of unnecessary baggage like the previous Marvel Netflix outings in recent memory - mainly those same series that I ranted about in my opinion piece about everything following The Defenders.
The main thing I loved about this season was that it went above and beyond to tear Matt Murdock down mentally and physically on his road to recovery from his injuries that he suffered during The Defenders season finale. The return of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin as how his associates were referring to him as this season, only added even more tension and turmoil to all of the angst and emotional drama that Matt was dealing with. The religious influences would normally deter me from being invested as most marquee narratives tend to shove that specific religion's teachings down viewers' throats, but I never got that vibe here. Instead, Matt's devotion to his Catholic faith enhances his journey throughout Daredevil Season 3. There was a line towards the end of the season where Matt brings up to Maggie about the time he questioned why God would blind him, only to explain that now after all that he's been through by the end of the season was that he understands God's methods in an unique way - we as humans can only see the flawed singular threads that compose a tapestry while God can see the entire finished product. I thought this was a powerful message expressing the symbolism of how everyone's individual lives aren't going to be perfect or go as we wish at times.
One complaint I saw a lot of people mention on social media and on other various reviews online was that Matt just seems to completely ignore the "death" of Elektra. I didn't see it as much. He was content to leave everything that was Matt Murdock behind him, including his love for Elektra and his compassion for his friends - notably Karen Page and Foggy Nelson, for he could completely devote himself to being the Devil of Hell's Kitchen entirely. Plus, I think that after all that he's been through over the last two seasons of Daredevil along with the events in The Defenders, I think he wouldn't be surprised that either Elektra is actually dead for good this time around or she found the means to survive that ordeal like he did. Only time will tell with these character deaths/revivals in comic book lore, especially with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I personally hope it's the end of that character as I think they've done all that they could have done with that character in this continuity. She was the reason that Matt made a lot of stupid, irrational decisions over the course of Daredevil Season 2 and The Defenders, so bringing her back into the picture would regress all of his character growth that he made this season. Besides, why rehash what they just did in The Defenders with "surprising" him that she's escaped death again. It would be "been there, done that" at this point.
If I had any complaints about this season, it would be about how Fisk's plans were almost too good to an extent. I understand that he had nothing but free time while in prison and he already had most of the inmates and prison staff/personnel in his pocket, but how he took over the FBI with little to no resistance was borderline insane. I understand that it was done to amplify how powerless Matt Murdock felt it was to stop Fisk the same way that he put him behind bars the first time back in Season 1, but I swear these Marvel Netflix shows get off on these catch-22's. In that regard though, I have to applaud them for making one of the catch-22's backfire in it's own predictability. Almost all of these Marvel Netflix shows have a confidant or that one person of interest that could turn the primary antagonist's world upside down, only if they are able to confess on record or in a court hearing to put that said villain behind bars. How does it always go down in these Marvel Netflix shows? That said person is ALWAYS killed before the confession or testimony is made and the villain gets off scottfree. I just always thought that was hilarious that trope was used so many times in these Marvel Netflix narratives that someone finally thought ahead for once - in this case, Special Agent Nadeem - and had their own plan in action for beyond the grave.
Speaking of Nadeem, I thought his character was hit or miss. He came across as about as likable as Dinah Madani from The Punisher who played a similar role in that series. Both of them are government agents who find themselves becoming pawns of their "dirty" superiors and colleagues. Madani at least lived through her affair by the end of the first season of The Punisher (barely), while Nadeem wasn't so lucky in that regard. There's moments early into the season where Nadeem and Madani each are very smart in their investigations, only to come off extremely stupid when the plot requires it. I swear, it reminds me of how Misty Knight is used across the board in these shows where she's only smart as long as it doesn't deal with the main plot, but when it comes to foiling the titular villain's plans, she's dumb as rocks. I know I'm not the only one who saw Nadeem's superior, Tammy Hattley, being in Fisk's pocket coming a MILE away.
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Karen Page nor her actress Deborah Ann Woll in the least, but I appreciated the effort the writers made this season to flesh out her character. She lost her reporter job - something that I felt that she didn't deserve in the first place following Ben Ulrich's demise back in Daredevil Season 1. Plus, we got the payoff to her big secret of killing Wesley back in Season 1. Boy, I thought that revelation was going to be the fuel for the fire that drove Fisk to kill Karen this season, but she was spared that fate since I'm guessing that the writers didn't want to pull that trigger quite yet. They are clearly keeping Bullseye around for the long haul, so they didn't make him an one and done villain for this season when they can easily keep him around for a few seasons. Thank god that they didn't make the same mistake Jessica Jones Season 1 did with Kilgrave. As much as I don't care for Karen Page's character, I appreciated the time dedicated to flesh out her character in the episode "Karen" during this season's episode order. We got to see that she didn't really start "accidentally" killing guys when she wind up in Hell's Kitchen, but rather as due to a series of unlikely events back when she was going through that rebellious wild child phase as a teenager on the verge of escaping her small town life and going to college.
I cannot stress about how great Foggy Nelson is as Matt's emotional compass, even more so than Karen Page or Mother Maggy. We got to see a lot of Foggy's family here in this season and that was a pleasant surprise to see where he draws his own strength from - both from his girlfriend and even more his own parents and siblings. I see now where Foggy's genuine naive demeanor to see the good in people comes from his upbringing, but it was a relief to see that not everyone in Hell's Kitchen come from broken homes. I know that not everyone views that as a negative, but it's a trope/cliche that tends to irk me a lot in these superhero narratives. Everything in your life doesn't have to go to hell and a hand basket for you to decide to be a good person.
I love how they continued the Death Note comparisons that I pointed out back in Season 1 here as well. Vanessa seems to play the part of Kiyomi Takada in this season as the unknown/random figure in play on the chessboard - whereas Karen Page played that part in the first season. There's still some flip flopping in terms of dynamics in terms of who could be seen as Light and L from their actions over the course of the season, but you can't see anyone else other than Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin filling those roles here once again. Kingpin could be seen as Light for the bulk of the season as his scheming and plotting succeeds to the point to it's almost comical at the shortcomings of the FBI. Benjamin Poindexter reluctantly becomes Kingpin's Teru Mekami to his schemes if we were to associate Fisk as having comparisons to being akin Light Yagami in this season. Like Mekami, Poindexter is borderline obsessive to strict routines and schedules to the point where that one thing that deviates that routine drove him to lose his edge and act independently (oftentimes against the better judgment of how Fisk wanted his plans to play out) over the course of the season. If I were to add, Poindexter ends up being self-destructive like Higuchi during the Yotsuba Group arc in Death Note, that led Fisk to finish him off with his own bare hands during the season finale for crossing him.
The main thing I loved about this season was that it went above and beyond to tear Matt Murdock down mentally and physically on his road to recovery from his injuries that he suffered during The Defenders season finale. The return of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin as how his associates were referring to him as this season, only added even more tension and turmoil to all of the angst and emotional drama that Matt was dealing with. The religious influences would normally deter me from being invested as most marquee narratives tend to shove that specific religion's teachings down viewers' throats, but I never got that vibe here. Instead, Matt's devotion to his Catholic faith enhances his journey throughout Daredevil Season 3. There was a line towards the end of the season where Matt brings up to Maggie about the time he questioned why God would blind him, only to explain that now after all that he's been through by the end of the season was that he understands God's methods in an unique way - we as humans can only see the flawed singular threads that compose a tapestry while God can see the entire finished product. I thought this was a powerful message expressing the symbolism of how everyone's individual lives aren't going to be perfect or go as we wish at times.
One complaint I saw a lot of people mention on social media and on other various reviews online was that Matt just seems to completely ignore the "death" of Elektra. I didn't see it as much. He was content to leave everything that was Matt Murdock behind him, including his love for Elektra and his compassion for his friends - notably Karen Page and Foggy Nelson, for he could completely devote himself to being the Devil of Hell's Kitchen entirely. Plus, I think that after all that he's been through over the last two seasons of Daredevil along with the events in The Defenders, I think he wouldn't be surprised that either Elektra is actually dead for good this time around or she found the means to survive that ordeal like he did. Only time will tell with these character deaths/revivals in comic book lore, especially with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I personally hope it's the end of that character as I think they've done all that they could have done with that character in this continuity. She was the reason that Matt made a lot of stupid, irrational decisions over the course of Daredevil Season 2 and The Defenders, so bringing her back into the picture would regress all of his character growth that he made this season. Besides, why rehash what they just did in The Defenders with "surprising" him that she's escaped death again. It would be "been there, done that" at this point.
If I had any complaints about this season, it would be about how Fisk's plans were almost too good to an extent. I understand that he had nothing but free time while in prison and he already had most of the inmates and prison staff/personnel in his pocket, but how he took over the FBI with little to no resistance was borderline insane. I understand that it was done to amplify how powerless Matt Murdock felt it was to stop Fisk the same way that he put him behind bars the first time back in Season 1, but I swear these Marvel Netflix shows get off on these catch-22's. In that regard though, I have to applaud them for making one of the catch-22's backfire in it's own predictability. Almost all of these Marvel Netflix shows have a confidant or that one person of interest that could turn the primary antagonist's world upside down, only if they are able to confess on record or in a court hearing to put that said villain behind bars. How does it always go down in these Marvel Netflix shows? That said person is ALWAYS killed before the confession or testimony is made and the villain gets off scottfree. I just always thought that was hilarious that trope was used so many times in these Marvel Netflix narratives that someone finally thought ahead for once - in this case, Special Agent Nadeem - and had their own plan in action for beyond the grave.
Speaking of Nadeem, I thought his character was hit or miss. He came across as about as likable as Dinah Madani from The Punisher who played a similar role in that series. Both of them are government agents who find themselves becoming pawns of their "dirty" superiors and colleagues. Madani at least lived through her affair by the end of the first season of The Punisher (barely), while Nadeem wasn't so lucky in that regard. There's moments early into the season where Nadeem and Madani each are very smart in their investigations, only to come off extremely stupid when the plot requires it. I swear, it reminds me of how Misty Knight is used across the board in these shows where she's only smart as long as it doesn't deal with the main plot, but when it comes to foiling the titular villain's plans, she's dumb as rocks. I know I'm not the only one who saw Nadeem's superior, Tammy Hattley, being in Fisk's pocket coming a MILE away.
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Karen Page nor her actress Deborah Ann Woll in the least, but I appreciated the effort the writers made this season to flesh out her character. She lost her reporter job - something that I felt that she didn't deserve in the first place following Ben Ulrich's demise back in Daredevil Season 1. Plus, we got the payoff to her big secret of killing Wesley back in Season 1. Boy, I thought that revelation was going to be the fuel for the fire that drove Fisk to kill Karen this season, but she was spared that fate since I'm guessing that the writers didn't want to pull that trigger quite yet. They are clearly keeping Bullseye around for the long haul, so they didn't make him an one and done villain for this season when they can easily keep him around for a few seasons. Thank god that they didn't make the same mistake Jessica Jones Season 1 did with Kilgrave. As much as I don't care for Karen Page's character, I appreciated the time dedicated to flesh out her character in the episode "Karen" during this season's episode order. We got to see that she didn't really start "accidentally" killing guys when she wind up in Hell's Kitchen, but rather as due to a series of unlikely events back when she was going through that rebellious wild child phase as a teenager on the verge of escaping her small town life and going to college.
I cannot stress about how great Foggy Nelson is as Matt's emotional compass, even more so than Karen Page or Mother Maggy. We got to see a lot of Foggy's family here in this season and that was a pleasant surprise to see where he draws his own strength from - both from his girlfriend and even more his own parents and siblings. I see now where Foggy's genuine naive demeanor to see the good in people comes from his upbringing, but it was a relief to see that not everyone in Hell's Kitchen come from broken homes. I know that not everyone views that as a negative, but it's a trope/cliche that tends to irk me a lot in these superhero narratives. Everything in your life doesn't have to go to hell and a hand basket for you to decide to be a good person.
I love how they continued the Death Note comparisons that I pointed out back in Season 1 here as well. Vanessa seems to play the part of Kiyomi Takada in this season as the unknown/random figure in play on the chessboard - whereas Karen Page played that part in the first season. There's still some flip flopping in terms of dynamics in terms of who could be seen as Light and L from their actions over the course of the season, but you can't see anyone else other than Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin filling those roles here once again. Kingpin could be seen as Light for the bulk of the season as his scheming and plotting succeeds to the point to it's almost comical at the shortcomings of the FBI. Benjamin Poindexter reluctantly becomes Kingpin's Teru Mekami to his schemes if we were to associate Fisk as having comparisons to being akin Light Yagami in this season. Like Mekami, Poindexter is borderline obsessive to strict routines and schedules to the point where that one thing that deviates that routine drove him to lose his edge and act independently (oftentimes against the better judgment of how Fisk wanted his plans to play out) over the course of the season. If I were to add, Poindexter ends up being self-destructive like Higuchi during the Yotsuba Group arc in Death Note, that led Fisk to finish him off with his own bare hands during the season finale for crossing him.
Off-topic, but seriously... what the FUCK was up with that strange CGI on Father Paul's face in that flashback when Matt was a kid? I get that Star Wars made that whole digital facial reconstruction thing acceptable with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story a few years ago, but damn it looked awkward there on how they were trying to make Peter McRobbie look younger in that scene when it just came off as creepy as some of the character models in the recent PlayStation 4 exclusive Spider-Man video game.
Action
There's a rather underwhelming attempt at a "hallway fight" in the first few episodes of this season, but I swear out of all of these cheap attempts to recreate the magic of that initial one from the first season, Marvel Netflix needs to realize that was a masterpiece that they are not going to down perfectly again. Every single one of these attempts just pale in comparison to the original. That being said though, I was a fan a lot of the action here. It was exactly what I was missing from the Marvel Netflix end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's spectrum. It's not borderline gruesome like most of the action in The Punisher or just flat out boring like in majority of The Defenders, Luke Cage Season 1, and Iron Fist Season 1. And boy does Matt Murdock take and give a lot of punishment. I couldn't help but laugh when even Karen Page said "Jesus Christ..." at how many bruises and scars that Matt Murdock was hiding underneath his clothing from the fights he's been getting himself into.
The second "big" fight of this season is the church fight that was taken straight out of the pages of the Daredevil comic books whereas Benjamin Poindexter (wearing Murdock's costume) faces off against Daredevil (Murdock is rocking his non-armored look from season one) as he is the only thing preventing him from murdering Karen Page and the group of civilians with her. Father Paul was an unfortunate casualty in this sequence, but we got to see Poindexter's skills in full effect here as he was able to use a multitude of objects fatal instruments in his hands. We saw Daredevil get creative with his means to combat this foe as he wasn't going to merely stand around idly by and allow him to beat him like a drum either.
The last noteworthy fight sequence from this season came from the finale of the thirteenth episode where Wilson Fisk, Benjamin Poindexter, and Daredevil faced off in a triple threat match of sorts. Fisk was using his body as human shield or rather a human pincushion against Poindexter's projectiles until he ultimately got his hands on Poindexter when he attempted to direct his attacks towards Fisk's wife, Vanessa. Fisk would then perform a Front Fireman's Carry and drive Poindexter's spine into the corner of the nearby brick wall, effectively putting him out of commission. Daredevil would continue to assault Fisk until he gave up and agreed to a truce as long as Vanessa stayed safe.
Where do we go from here?
After the teaser at the end of the season in final moments of Episode 13, it's clear that Dr. Oyama was operating on Poindexter's damaged spine as the iconic "Bullseye" symbol shown up in Dex's eyes in the closing moments of that scene. As the article that I linked pointed out, Dr. O is infusing Dex's spine with adamantium, much like his comic book counterpart. It's safe to assume that if Daredevil is renewed for a fourth season, then we'll see Dex back as the primary antagonist in his more comic book-faithful appearance as Bullseye instead of the imposter Daredevil like he was in this season. I was kinda surprised that Karen Page got to live through this season as I was on Dex's side cheering him on during the church fight to get to the point where she would have died if this was the comic book iteration. Karen was even left holding Matt's body like how Matt held hers in the comics in a clever change of position here. I guess the writers didn't want to literally copy and paste another Daredevil love interest being killed off. Think about it, Elektra died in both Daredevil Season 2 AND in The Defenders, so I guess that they wanted to cut Matt Murdock a break in that regard. I mean c'mon, a person can only take so much emotional trauma before they literally lose it completely. Karen Page's demise would've driven Matt Murdock to the point of killing both Dex as well as The Kingpin and I doubt that's the direction that they were gunning for this season. Instead, Murdock's friends remained in the line of fire, but at the same time, they were spared that fate as this season was about restoring Murdock's emotional compass.
As we all know, both Luke Cage and Iron Fist were both cancelled by Netflix. I wouldn't be surprised if those get repackaged into a possible Heroes for Hire or Daughters of the Dragon spin-off(s). They sprinkled enough breadcrumbs in both of those series to warrant as such and it wouldn't be that hard to do really, given the state that both of those series' second seasons ended on. I regret that we didn't get to see Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary make an appearance in this series as that character is known more as a Daredevil villain than an Iron Fist one, but I understand that they wanted to carefully sell the viewers onto Benjamin Poindexter as the new antagonist of this season - preferably setting him up to stick around for the long haul, much like Iron Fist Season Two's Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary.
If a fourth season was to happen, I see Benjamin Poindexter completing his transformation into becoming Bullseye as most recognize him from the comics and previous appearances in media. He would undoubtedly be the primarily antagonist for that season, while maybe Vanessa Fisk manipulating him to some fashion to get her husband out of jail. If anything were to happen to Vanessa that terminates Murdock's truce with Wilson Fisk to protect the safety of Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, so that will be the thing that Vanessa holds over Daredevil/Matt Murdock's head to prevent him from getting in the way of her schemes. I think that would make for a captivating dilemma for that season in my honest opinion. Murdock can't beat the Fisks physically so you could play the paralegal card and go back and forth with Vanessa and Bullseye foiling his efforts at every turn. I know it's not much, but it's just a thought from what they've done in these last few seasons.
Fans already started a campaign to urge Netflix to renew the series for a fourth season, but I'm sure we won't see that on their streaming service. Don't forget that Disney is looking to launch a streaming service of their own in the near future, so it wouldn't make much sense to have any content floating around out there for their competition. After that Fox/Disney merger/buyout gets finalized, I don't see Disney giving any of their content to Netflix at all if I'm perfectly honest. **UPDATE** I haven't published this article yet, but as of me working (more like me procrastinating on this write-up...) on this on 11/29/18, Netflix announced that they were not renewing the series for a fourth season. I honestly wouldn't be saddened by that news as Disney hasn't made it a secret that they are pushing forward with their own streaming service to compete with Netflix, so I could see this act as Netflix merely chopping the legs off that project before it even gets started. It's going to piss fans off by "killing off" the Netflix side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe temporarily, but I see it adding more fuel to the fire for people to invest in Disney's service as the new home for that content. While I don't necessarily agree with this method, I can't be too upset as it's simply how television works nowadays, especially for streaming networks. Network television would (and still do) doom a series with a god-awful time slot, only to accused the shows cancellation upon "poor ratings". Oh you think, Sherlock? Cartoon Network are notorious for this method over the recent years, dooming popular and beloved animated series, such as Ben 10: Omniverse, Justice League Unlimited, Sonic Boom!, Beware the Batman, and other noteworthy series at ungodly hours. For example, Beware the Batman was forced to play out it's remaining episode order as a single-night marathon on a late night Toonami time slot while Ben 10: Omniverse, Sonic Boom!, and a few other series were given the dreaded 6 to 7AM time slot to die a slow death. I recall ABC dealing Agent Carter a similar fate back when that show was at the last leg of it's second season. They just did the remaining episodes in a marathon like fashion for a few weeks until it was over. This is just mere speculation at this point, but it's just my take on the matter. I think what's going on is that Netflix has a precise episode/season order with each of the individual Defenders-based Netflix shows and once they fulfill that order, they cancel it outright. With Disney's streaming service in the works, I'm positive that Netflix wants to wash their hands of having to pay Disney/Marvel Studios any additional revenue to keep their content on their streaming service. It seems like I'm not the only one who thinks this way as Forbes as a write-up of their own on this turn of events.
This season is a bit of a slow burn. Things take a few episodes to pick up the pace as the writers really wanted to hit home on how far Matt Murdock has fallen in regard of his personal life - his connections and ties to his friends and family, his own religious faith, and even his own physical well-being as he struggles to decide whether or not he should maintain everything that makes him "human" or abandon all of that to fully embrace being the "devil" that Hell's Kitchen needs. I highly suggest watching it and enjoying it while it's still up on Netflix's platform before it disappears. It's definitely a return to the greatness that started the wealth of Marvel-based content that followed after it. After it's unexpected cancellation by Netflix, I'm anxious to see where we see Daredevil show up next. Marvel Studios would be insane to leave this character and it's characters on the shelf, sitting idly by doing nothing when there's many more Daredevil stories left to tell.
As we all know, both Luke Cage and Iron Fist were both cancelled by Netflix. I wouldn't be surprised if those get repackaged into a possible Heroes for Hire or Daughters of the Dragon spin-off(s). They sprinkled enough breadcrumbs in both of those series to warrant as such and it wouldn't be that hard to do really, given the state that both of those series' second seasons ended on. I regret that we didn't get to see Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary make an appearance in this series as that character is known more as a Daredevil villain than an Iron Fist one, but I understand that they wanted to carefully sell the viewers onto Benjamin Poindexter as the new antagonist of this season - preferably setting him up to stick around for the long haul, much like Iron Fist Season Two's Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary.
If a fourth season was to happen, I see Benjamin Poindexter completing his transformation into becoming Bullseye as most recognize him from the comics and previous appearances in media. He would undoubtedly be the primarily antagonist for that season, while maybe Vanessa Fisk manipulating him to some fashion to get her husband out of jail. If anything were to happen to Vanessa that terminates Murdock's truce with Wilson Fisk to protect the safety of Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, so that will be the thing that Vanessa holds over Daredevil/Matt Murdock's head to prevent him from getting in the way of her schemes. I think that would make for a captivating dilemma for that season in my honest opinion. Murdock can't beat the Fisks physically so you could play the paralegal card and go back and forth with Vanessa and Bullseye foiling his efforts at every turn. I know it's not much, but it's just a thought from what they've done in these last few seasons.
Fans already started a campaign to urge Netflix to renew the series for a fourth season, but I'm sure we won't see that on their streaming service. Don't forget that Disney is looking to launch a streaming service of their own in the near future, so it wouldn't make much sense to have any content floating around out there for their competition. After that Fox/Disney merger/buyout gets finalized, I don't see Disney giving any of their content to Netflix at all if I'm perfectly honest. **UPDATE** I haven't published this article yet, but as of me working (more like me procrastinating on this write-up...) on this on 11/29/18, Netflix announced that they were not renewing the series for a fourth season. I honestly wouldn't be saddened by that news as Disney hasn't made it a secret that they are pushing forward with their own streaming service to compete with Netflix, so I could see this act as Netflix merely chopping the legs off that project before it even gets started. It's going to piss fans off by "killing off" the Netflix side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe temporarily, but I see it adding more fuel to the fire for people to invest in Disney's service as the new home for that content. While I don't necessarily agree with this method, I can't be too upset as it's simply how television works nowadays, especially for streaming networks. Network television would (and still do) doom a series with a god-awful time slot, only to accused the shows cancellation upon "poor ratings". Oh you think, Sherlock? Cartoon Network are notorious for this method over the recent years, dooming popular and beloved animated series, such as Ben 10: Omniverse, Justice League Unlimited, Sonic Boom!, Beware the Batman, and other noteworthy series at ungodly hours. For example, Beware the Batman was forced to play out it's remaining episode order as a single-night marathon on a late night Toonami time slot while Ben 10: Omniverse, Sonic Boom!, and a few other series were given the dreaded 6 to 7AM time slot to die a slow death. I recall ABC dealing Agent Carter a similar fate back when that show was at the last leg of it's second season. They just did the remaining episodes in a marathon like fashion for a few weeks until it was over. This is just mere speculation at this point, but it's just my take on the matter. I think what's going on is that Netflix has a precise episode/season order with each of the individual Defenders-based Netflix shows and once they fulfill that order, they cancel it outright. With Disney's streaming service in the works, I'm positive that Netflix wants to wash their hands of having to pay Disney/Marvel Studios any additional revenue to keep their content on their streaming service. It seems like I'm not the only one who thinks this way as Forbes as a write-up of their own on this turn of events.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
This season is a bit of a slow burn. Things take a few episodes to pick up the pace as the writers really wanted to hit home on how far Matt Murdock has fallen in regard of his personal life - his connections and ties to his friends and family, his own religious faith, and even his own physical well-being as he struggles to decide whether or not he should maintain everything that makes him "human" or abandon all of that to fully embrace being the "devil" that Hell's Kitchen needs. I highly suggest watching it and enjoying it while it's still up on Netflix's platform before it disappears. It's definitely a return to the greatness that started the wealth of Marvel-based content that followed after it. After it's unexpected cancellation by Netflix, I'm anxious to see where we see Daredevil show up next. Marvel Studios would be insane to leave this character and it's characters on the shelf, sitting idly by doing nothing when there's many more Daredevil stories left to tell.
